Saturday, December 31, 2005

They other day when I was shopping at the Supermart for Ace's stuff, I saw something that REALLY freaked me out.. CHICKEN RICE CEREAL...

You see, I am vegeterian and became one for health reasons.While I have nothing against the meaterians and I think that it is up to people's own free will to decide what they want to put into their bodies, CHICKEN RICE CEREAL REALLY FREAKED ME OUT!

Maybe you would understand why if I shared about my journey to vegeterianism with you...

You see, I was a meat lover. I ate anything and everything and lots of meat. Couldn't live without it!

Then I read a book called Fit For Life by Harvey Diamond. In the book, he says that our stomachs will secrete acid to digest proteins (meat) and alkaline to digest carbohydrates (rice). Usually, it takes our body 3-4 hrs to digest this food...

However, when you mix both.. as in when you eat a plate of chicken rice (chicken=protien, rice= carbo), your body produces both acid and alkaline at the same time and causes the alkaline to neutralize your acid. As a result, both acid and alkaline cannot do their job and the body finds it very tiring to digest the food.. it tries and tries but to no avail. After 12 hours, all you have left are a lump of fermented food inside your body and the body just gives up and let it pass out.

After I read that, I decided I dun want fermented food in my body and started to be a little careful about what I eat. Chicken rice seemed like a really bad idea from then on...

Then a friend showed me a video called Meet Your Meat where they showed how livestocks are killed so that we can enjoy our KFC, Mac Donalds.. and it really freaked both me and hubby out. I turned vegeterian instantly.. for one week.. until the fear and the images were no longer in my mind...

Then, one day while talking to a friend, I realized that her father (she is malaysian) is one of the biggest chicken farmers in Malaysia and that they are the top suppliers of chickens to KFC in malaysia.

She said, "Well, every month, this salesman will come with this encyclopedia of injections you can inject into the chickens. You wouldn't believe the kind of stuff they have. THey have things that can help the chicken grow from a chick into an adult within a mere 21 days (that is like less than half the time they will usually take okie!). And then all the chickens that go out from our farm are exactly the same size and weight. Too big, give it and injection and it becomes small. Too small, give it an injection and it becomes big..."

My god... can you imagine the amount of chemicals that goes into these chickens.. the final thing that made me decide to stop eating animals completely was this: HER DAD, a chicken farmer, actually FORBIDS THE WHOLE FAMILY TO EAT CHICKEN OUTSIDE. The only chicken they are allowed to eat are the kampong chickens they rear NATURALLY.

That's not all... when we eat all these chickens, the chemicals go not just into our bodies and stays there... it also gets passed down to our children's body when we give birth... so for the good of Ace, even before he was born, i stopped eating animals ;)

So you see.. chicken rice for adults to me is already very scary... chicken rice cereal for babies? That's really scary!

Friday, December 30, 2005

Jez Ah Ma bought Ace a truck that has sounds (can sing Old Mac Donald Had A Farm and produce sounds of 5 different animals and can move and even have blinking lights). I think he will enjoy that for quite a while.. now.. he learns to watch it move.. in time to come.. he will understand cause and effect and how to start or stop the truck.. even later still, he will be able to learn the sounds of the animals...

Megan godma bought him something like a truck too.. (see picture of Ace and his rumbling truck) when you pull at it, it will rumble away.. tat's very useful for when ace is a little grumpy.. he will be so amused by the rumbling that he will forget why he was grumpy in the first place.. hahah ;)

I think xmas is a time where many children recieve toys as presents. But after I hear this scary story, I plead with you to think twice when you buy toys for your nieces, friend's children, sons and daughters.

My mentor, George's son, Jensen, is about a year and a half. He is an intelligent and cute little boy who has a penchant for golf. Jensen's father used to be a health consultant. He and his wife are very concerned about the well being of Jensen and are very careful about what he eats, reads and who he plays with because they believe that things you come into contact with before you are 3 years old will determine what you become for the rest of your life.

Somehow.. someone actually gave Jensen an xmas present which was really scary....

Recently, there is a revival of the Care Bears polularity. (If you dunno wat a care bear is, you are either older or younger than my generation.. here's a pic of sunshine bear and lots of love bear for your reference) They are bears who have pictures on their tummies and these pictures will emit magical powers when they say, "Care bear, stare....."

They are really fluffy cute little creatures with very nice names like Tenderheart Bear, Sunshine Bear, Goodluck Bear.. etc... I for one used to love them.. whenever my TV broke down, I would do the Care Bear Stare stunt and hope that my magical powers will revive my tv... I even formed a Carebear Club among my kakis with me as Tenderheart Bear, the Leader of the Pack.. hahahaha

Anywayz, back to the story.... someone gave Jensen a carebear toy.. a well meaning gesture no doubt.. but it was a really scary toy lor...

It's a carebear that SINGS.. how does it sing? When you hold two of it's hands, you complete the circuit and it will sing.. this means tat an electric current will run through you and it will sing! Yikes! If you only hold one of it's hands, the circuit is not complete and no sound will come out!

Hiyo, I think if his parents knew this, they would probably ban him from playing with the carebear toy man!

I for one will NEVER EVER let my son play this kind of toys.

So parents, please check all the toys that you pass to your children! It is our responsiblity to ensure their safety and well being!

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Well, it is how parents always tell you that no matter how upset they are at work, how tired they are or how frustrated they are when they are outside... the moment they see their children and see him smile, it will feel like everything else is not important...

Today has been a heavy day... it didn't help that I slept late last nite and woke up rather early today to read my new book on coaching before Ace can wake up and disturb me.

After that, I was buzy writing articles for the blog, sending out pics of Ace to members of the Ace Admiration Club members and also taking care of Ace...

At nite, had consecutive 3 meetings... As the meetings were heavy, i left Ace in mummy's care... my gungho mother actually brought him to her religious meeting so I guess my son and my mum had some other meetings too...

As for my 3 meetings.. had one uplifting one that inspired me to strive for greater heights in 2006, one mundane one on some marketing stuff and one tiring one... which made me a little upset... cos my well-meaning intentions end up something else in other people's eyes... instead of helping her or making happy, it made her upset instead... oh well, I will try to improve on tat :)

I was also a little upset that someone told hubby that he said something that was not very nice and that it was not his usual self... call me protective... but well, I feel tat hubby is by nature a nice person.. but he aint god so his not very nice self usually happens when he is tired... (I should know.. i live with him leh..)

I am upset not so much that people 'criticized' my hubby.. I mean, we were talking about how we could all do better as a team and there can be no improvement with criticisms... more so.. i wonder if I could have helped hubby become happier, more relaxed.. and wonder if I have kind of neglected him with Ace around... (Hahah.. i think if he is reading this, he will say YES and say he wants to use his VOUCHERS..)

Well, i guess I am too tired lor.. energy is real low.. It's like.. hmm.. upset is too strong a word.. I just kind of feel disturbed lor... okie, I am talking in circles and it is 2.18am in the morning.. hahaha.. let's go back to the main point...

So when I came back.. I was not unhappy.. just perterbed and tired... but when I saw Ace and he smiled at me... like what my parent friends tell me... everything really seem to just melt away and dun seem to matter anymore!

I truly felt that "有子万事足"....

The conclusion? The fastest way to relieve stress is to seh kiah! Hahahaha....

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

What I meant was that Ace has started to eat the Banana cereals that Ah Yee bought him...

Well, the way it happened was really farnee lor...

You see, I never like to eat bananas since young. Banana cake and goreng pisang (deep fried banana- it's a snack in Singapore) is fine... but NO NO to bananas. The reason? Well, I just found that it was very gooey and since it was difficult to swallow gooey stuff, I just hated it.

During my pregnancy, I never took any bananas. After Ace was delivered, I too never touched banana stuff... so you could say that when Ace took the banana cereal, it was the first time he was introduced to the banana taste!

And what was his reaction?

THIS!

Despite having such strange reactions/expressions towards banana cereal, he never once stopped opening his mouth to ask for more when he has finished the first mouthful.. hahahahah...

The verdict? Ace is tam jiak like me and max when we were little! Any food is better than no food ah! Good, then we wun have a fussy eater in our hands ;)

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Whenever he is grumpy, throw him into the water and he will be very happy... just make sure the water is not too cold for him..

Recently, he has taken to kicking and playing with water while bathing.. so I decided to bring the camera into the bathroom to capture his new antics..

However, he surprised me by NOT playing with water tat day but by TRYING TO GRAB anything that he can!

He attemped to do tat at the water coming out from the shower.. and even attemped to grab is humble little penis! ;) hahahahhaa... Wonder if he finds it painful to grab so hard.. or maybe he is just shy and trying to cover up.. maybe he was trying to stop pee from coming out (he did tat once..) muahahahaha....

Oh well, I look forward to when he can play with his toys and we can have more fun during bath time.. ;)

Monday, December 26, 2005

I love to watch tv. I watch anything and everything really. Give me an indian movie and I will happily watch away.. ask me to watch a documentary, I will be equally enthralled..

Strangely, the only time I watched less TV was when I was working in Mediacorp.. hahahah...

However, this is not a habit I would want my son to pick up.

The house rule laid down by Daddy is that Ace is not allowed to watch TV or even hear the noise of the TV. I remmebered that during my confinement, in order not to let Ace hear noise from the TV.. i will carry him.. face away from the TV and mute the TV... and I would simply kill boredom by reading the subtitles!

Poor confinement nanny had to follow suit.. hahahaha...

As Ace grew and grew.. the TV volume got louder.. but he still wouldnt get a chance to watch TV.. cos he will always be faced away from the TV..

Not that he liked to watch TV anywayz. Usually, he is just very enthralled by the noise that is coming from the TV and would look for the source of sound... after a while, he would get tired of it and play with himself again.. Eg, he found Chicken Little to be very boring. We allowed him to watch it cos it was a children's show. But he found his fingers more interesting than the show after about a minute of watching.. hahah...

Nowadays though, he will twist and turn his body into strange positions just to catch a glimpse of the TV. (See picture!)

Well, I shall have to watch less TV if i want him to watch less.. sigh.. LEAD BY EXAMPLE IS A MUST when you are a parent.. ;)

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Remark: 5th month injection was easy peasy.. cos Ace only slighly warm for a while and had no fever this time round... 6th month even better still, nothing... Nurse say he EVERYTHING ALSO BIG.. but dun worry, he is just huge and is not FAT!

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENTSCan flip very well liao.. Ace can flip forwards and backwards easily at will. He seems to like doing it best when he is hungry and wants milk.. it is his new signal for hunger. Also, becuase he can flip at will and can stay on his sides, he can now carry bolsters when he sleeps.. and he has the abillty to hold on to it, let go..lie on his back again and flip to his side again... Usually, he flips around instead of crawling around...

Can "Crawl": Ace still likes to swivel himself around when he is lying on his back. He can sleep parallel to me and end up perpendicular to me when I wake up! I also dunno how he do that! Also, he knows how to push his buttocks up using his leg power and push him arms around.. but he cannot co-ordinate them yet.. so cannot crawl...

Can Sit unassisted for a number of minutes... by using both his hands to support...

Starts Making More Sounds and can SHOUT VERY LOUDLY now.. Does it usually only when he is HUNGRY AND DUN HAVE MILK.. somehow, he has started to become fussy when he is sleepy... so i have been telling him tat good boys will just close eyes and sleep.. it's easy...

Can grab toys and will always put them into his mouth.. after which he will bang them, throw them on the floor and explore what happens.

BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENTS:

Will show sad face when I go out and say bye bye to him.. shows a happy smiley face when I come back. But when i leave, he doesnt make a fuss cos I will tell him when I am coming home.. if however i forget to do tat.. he will end up a little more fussy than usual and make daddy almost want to tear his hair apart..( even though is he bald , hahah..)

Is friendly and likes people to carry him. Is ok even if people who look very different come near him. Eg, my indian friend carried him and he was happy.

Happy when he sees other babies or children and will smile at them and lunge at them to hold their hands...

Likes music and whenever he hears music.. will start waving his arms and kicking his legs.. seems to have penchant for Dragos Da Tin Dei...

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Daddy was back after a long day and because I was using the comp to do work, I asked him to go sleep and dun fight with me for computer to read his soccer news... You know how when you are in the middle of some inspiration and doing stuff, you lose the momentum when people disrupt you right?

As Ace was already asleep right in the middle of our bed, Daddy climbed into the right side of the bed and fell asleep.

Suddenly, in the middle of the nite at around 2am when I was happily typing away, Ace suddenly woke up and did his flipping stunt.. I think he dreamt of food and wanted to have some milk....

He turned to the left side where daddy was and stuck his face to daddy's back and tried to find the nipple! But he couldnt find it. After a while, he gave up and turned to the right, where there was only air! But he still couldnt find it.... so he turned to his left again.. and he kicked and kicked till he swivelled 90 degrees and his legs were on daddy's back, and his mouth was kissing our pillows...

Then I lay down on his right and poked his arm with my fingers and told him, "This side this side.." and swivell him back.. and he happily sucked..

I tried to pull out again to watch his reaction and he turned to Daddy and tried to find milk again... it was hilarious! Hahahaha...

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

I have mentioned before that Ace sleeps with his legs and arms wide open like me right?

But Ace's latest habit is to sleep on his side cos ever since he can turn to his side (either side) very well with ease, the little show off has been doing it again and again and again, even in his sleep...

Well, according to the studies, this means that Ace is "tough on the outside but sensitive at heart. He may be shy when he first meets somebody, but will soon relax..."

Well, let's see if he grows out of it...

PS: Me and Max are sometimes starfish and sometimes foetus.. just like Ace :) hehehe...

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

If Ace's reaction to a mop is anything to guage his future characteristics, I am happy to announce that Ace likes to do housework ;)

Or maybe he is just amused to see me do housework... (just like Daddy.. hiaks... cos I ONLY do housework ONCE IN A BLUE MOON.. so dun call me a housewife! call me a HOMEMAKER:))

I have noticed that whenever Ace is restless and noisy, he would quieten down if i made him sit in his highchair and watch me wash plates, wash clothes or hang clothes to dry...

The other day, i had guests coming to my house in the night. We had agreed to play the cashflow game at our place with our friends and my house has not been packed since the last time i had guests at my place.. i think tat was like about 4 mths ago.. hiaks hiaks.. so you can imagine the amount of rubbish being piled up all over the house..

But boh pian leh.. people are coming.. i tried my best to dump what i could in our bedrooms and study room( hahaha.. just close the door can lioa mah) and then proceeded to vacumn, wipe, clear all the stuff...

By the time i reached the mopping stage, Ace was already very bored and he demanded that i carried him by crying out loud.

Alas, mummy was running out of time. Only one hour left and my first guest will start to arrive and so mummy had no choice but to carry Ace in a carrier while she mopped the floor..

Initially, Ace was very curious and he kept staring at the mop... and then he attempted to touch it and move it like he saw me mop the floor.. and when all the moping was done, he somehow seemed to sense it and starting smiling and waving his hands and feet :)

Ok girls, here's another cute-looking SNAG who can do housework... anyone wants to book him first? ;)

I welcome.. AUNTY Pamela.. to the AAC (Ace Admiration Club). She has just chided me for not sending her any pictures of Ace because in her own words, "You should know I fell in love with him at first sight mah!!"

Anywayz, for members of the AAC, I present now to you... a new cheer for Ace.. proudly created by my very old, but very creative father.. hahaha.. (Ace's grandpa lah)

It all came about when grandpa was playing with Ace.

He would make funny faces and funny sounds and Ace would giggle happily.

Then one day, out of nowhere, I heard him reciting the following cheer:

严锋， 严锋，谁最威风?严锋，严锋， 我最威风!

Loosely translated, it means:Yan feng (Tat's Ace's chinese name), who is the most outstanding?Yan feng (Tat's Ace's chinese name),I am the most outstanding?

Cos Ace's FENG... rhymes with the words'威风' (outstanding)...

I think the standard MOVEMENTS to go with the cheer is to raise your hands.. or rather Ace's hands when you say the words '威风'.. hahahhaha

Monday, December 19, 2005

Baby Waden (her son, who is only 2 days younger than Ace) can sit up on the mattress for around 3-4 minutes at least. Such a clever baby!

I tried letting Ace do that but he can only sit without support for some 30 seconds. After that he will try to reach out for his toes (to put them into his mouth) and he will topple over.

I am not saying tat Ace is not clever lah. Babies are all different mah ;)

Anywayz, recently, Ace has shown more and more signs of wanting to sit up.

Eg, when you put him into the blue bouncer, he will not want to lie down and will attempt to sit up in the bouncer. Clever baby Ace will even use leverage.. and hang on to the metal frame of the bouncer to lift himself up.

However, meal times are still an issue. I read somewhere that you should feed your baby on a highchair to establish meal time habits.

However, whenever I put Ace on the highchair, he will lean over the suck on the edge of the chair. Before I can deliver the food to his mouth, he will lean over all the way to the edge of the chair. And then his head will be facing down by then. Like that how to feed?

And then I thought very hard about how to keep him upright....

And here's the solution: I tie his body to the back of the highchair with my shawl! Hahahhaah (:ook carefully at the pic, you can see traces of the scarf ;))

When my mum saw this, she told Ace, "这样的方法，你的MUMMY也想的出来..."

But then it gets the job done and he seems to know now that to feed, he has to lean back... I am quite proud of my solution actually ;) When he gets used to leaning back and has a stronger back, I shall realease him from my shawl..hiaks...

Sunday, December 18, 2005

I read the other day that children may have sleeping problems again once because they have reached a certain development milestone.

"Some children may wake up in the middle of the night again becuase once they have mastered a certain motor skill, they may be so happy that they want to do it again and again at every chance that they get. Even in the middle of the night..."

Wah lau, no wonder Ace kept waking up those few days.

Some time ago, Ace managed to be able to flip to and fro effortlessly.

When that happened, he suddenly would wake up in the middle of his nap of in the middle of the night to flip over. And I tot what was wrong with him...

Anyway, Ace likes to flip over and be on his tummy now... He will lie on his tummy, lift his head up and smile and smile and smile.. and then when he is tired, he will put his head down to rest for a while....

He is also learrning to crawl now. He will kick his legs, bring them together and try to lift his buttocks up. He already can do that now. Now, all he needs is to co-ordinate his hands and start supporting his weight on his back and his hands and move his hands and I think he will be ready to crawl.

Saturday, December 17, 2005

FYI, Ace has been having rice gruel + VP (VP gives him all the nutrients tat he needs and helps him to detox faster) for lunch...

His training started about 3 weeks ago where I will on and off feed him like one table spoon of gruel at each meal time.

As of this week... he has finally started to take MORE of it.. I now mix like 2-3 tablespoons of the powder with water to make like half a bowl of the gruel stuff. Then I crush VP and add it in cos if not the gruel will be very bland. Since VP is good for him and he likes the taste, I tot i would save the trouble of feeding him seperately and just put the VP into the gruel....

He is doing a good job so far... has improved in terms of speed.. but he hasnt quite gotten the idea that when food goes into your mouth, you are suppose to suck it in.. he still likes to push his tongue out as when he is drinking milk.

At other times when he is "hungry", he will try to munch on his hands and fingers. Recently, he has even graduated to munching on his toes. Apparently, i think his toes tastes better than his fingers cos i see his toes in his mouth more often than his fingers.. hahaha..

He really eat till like it is very delicious lor.. maybe one day when I can put my foot into my mouth.. i will try and see whether it is really delicious or not.. hahaha.. but as of now.. my bones are too hard to be so flexible.. hahahah

Friday, December 16, 2005

You know how when a person is tired, you can sleep anywhere and in any position right?

But I think Ace and Daddy really win HONOURS for their stunt that day for sleeping JUST LIKE THAT...

I mean, for Daddy, it has been a rather buzy week and he has actually been quite tired. He was lying on the mattress and playing with Ace. They were having fun talking and laughing with each other and suddenly, Daddy (who was playing the role of some monster i think) tried to hug him and turn him to the side...

The moment he turned, Daddy just fell alseep!

The most beautiful part of it was that because Daddy fell asleep, Ace fell asleep too... so when mummy came back into the room where they were playing, they were alseep in this strange embrace...

Wah lau, like that also can sleep ah! I tot I sleep with hangers on my bed or sleep in one position and never move for whole nite is considered very clever liao..

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Ace is a very active baby. His current favourite past time is to kick his legs.

Like an energizer bunny, he never seems to get tired. When he is on the bouncer, he is kicking, when he is on the bed, he is kicking, when I am carrying him, he is kicking... when daddy is carrying him, he is kicking...

He just never seems to stop. Even when he flips himself over, he is still kicking!

I guess all the exercise helps his legs to get strong (he can stand with a little support under his arms for 5 minuites now) and helps him to grow...

But sometimes, he just randomly kicks and his power legs are really quite painful. I know cos I ever kenna on my tummy and even on my breasts!

"Ace, can you please dun kick mummy's neh neh.. wait no milk how????"

He just continues to smile and kick and do his wun ying tui (shadowless kick) kungfu stunt...

The other day, Daddy was playing with him... and mummy was busy taking photos of them playing together...

"Kick, Ace, Kick... " Daddy was encouraging him..

"Good boy, good to exercise right... " and before Daddy could finish his sentence...

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Well, what happened was tat it was the time to wash Ace's baby mat again. So mummy being hardworking that day, decided to wash the mat together with his smelly bolsters and pillows.

After a good wash, mummy hanged the mat on a bamboo pole and put it outside to dry cos the weather was really good. It was warm and windy and mummy cannot imagine Ace without his baby mat that day cos it was INJECTION DAY...

Mummy also uses it when she has got aches during her pregnancy... sitting on it helps to relax the nerves and all tat and the aches will be gone very quickly!

Alas, mummy was busy doing other things when the sky suddenly turned dark and the wind grew strong. WHen mummy looked out of the window, OH NO! BABY MAT AND BOUNCER CLOTH WERE NOWHERE ON THE BAMBOO POLE!!!!!!!

OMG! The bouncer cloth is ok.. but BABY MAT??! I need it so badly tat day!! And hor, not to mention, the baby mat costs almost $800 okie!

When mummy looked out of the window, she realized that blue bouncer cloth is gone and baby mat was hanging dangerously on her neighbour's window.

As if by instinct, Ace seemed to know that he lost his precious mat and he started to cry.. mummy quickly woke daddy up and asked him to take care of ace while she went down to try to recover the mat.

Mummy saw that a kind soul had picked up the blue bouncer cloth and put it on the pipes.. thanks, kind soul. She picked it up and started to stare at the baby mat hanging on neighbour's window...

Now you must know tat mummy is very bad with directions... she looked up, counted the number of floors and tried to figure out which neighbour it was and which door to knock on...

She then climbed up the stairs and knocked on a neighbour's door.. after 5 min, no one opened the door..

Feeling that something was not quite right, she ran down again and counted the windows and tried to sort out the direction. It suddenly dawned on her that she was knocking on the WRONG DOOR! Heng ah.. no one was at home...

She then proceeded to the RIGHT DOOR and started knocking but to no avail. AFter 5 min, she decided to change plans.

So she went back downstairs, stared at the mat and tried to think of other ways to retrieve it. She had to get it now.. cos she was bringing Ace out for his jab already and had a meeting at night. Who knows when the neighbour will be back!

She looked up and realized tat the neighbours on the third storey were probably at home cos their clothes were all out of the window... and if they would help use a bamboo to push the mat, it would drop on the floor and mummy can pick it up easily...

Plucking her courage, mummy knocked on the door of #03-8569 and waited patiently.. after 5 min of knocking, someone suddenly opened the door.. PHEW... and guess wat.. inside was a very pretty malay mummy with her 3 pretty daughters...

Mummy explained her problem and they offered to help her immediately.

Such nice neighbours...

Anyway, the ending was that mummy saved the mat in time but since it was dirty, mummy had to wash it again.. since it was not dry yet.. Ace had the luxury of sleeping on mummy's bed in the night cos Mummy and Daddy had their own piece of super big KIKO BEDPAD :)

Anywayz, Mummy shall send them a thank you card quickly to thank them for their help :)

Monday, December 05, 2005

Hahaha.. of cos I didn't mean that my little sweet bundle of joy is physically fighting...

What I meant was that Ace has managed to build the antibodies in his system such that the 5th month jab was *phew* chicken feet!:P

We went the the doctor as usual in the afternoon...

Ace was smiling happily at the nurses and everybody else and happily kicking his legs despite me telling him that he is going to have an injection... he made the nurses so happy when he gave them his killer i-am-going-to-charm-your-pant-off smile...

And then the needle went into his thigh.... "WAH!!!!!" he cried for like 5 seconds and after that stopped and refused to smile... and gave us his M shaped face.

I then breastfed him while I waited to see if he had any reactions. He seemed ok and so me and hubby went NTUC to buy groceries before we headed home.. halfway in NTUC, he fell asleep in Daddy's arms...

When he reached home, he was slightly warm and so I sponged him and fed him 2 VP and let him drink LOTS and LOTS of kinertec water.

Then we went out for dinner and met up with my mentor... he was kind of grumpy during the dinner cos he wanted to sleep... and finally when he slept, we finished our dinner in peace and went back home...

Back home, he was happy again and started to giggle and laugh with his daddy... there were no signs of fever at all! Even his injection wound didn't really seem to hurt cos he did not cry when I tried to touch it.

I think it must be cause his immune system has been built up well and now that he is stronger, he takes less time to fight the virus.

Friday, December 02, 2005

Ace has been suffering from the tortures of teething... as a result, me and daddy suffer right along with him!

I mean, I have always been happy and proud to tell people that Ace is a very nice and very happy baby. He is.. he is always smiley and is always happy. Mostly, he is happy to either play with people or with himself and he seldom cries unless he is hungry...

However, having gone through two post injection fevers, I now know that Ace is a very grumpy baby when he is not feeling well.

Few days ago, when his 5th month injection was due, he started to be feverish again. It started with his head being quite warm for one or two days. But he had no fever. Just a warm head and he was smiley as usual.

Then one day, he just woke up and decided to GO FOR IT! He started to turn feverish.. and the part of his skull where there is a hole (you know tat baby's skulls are not fully formed at birth right?) is pulsating because instead of the sunken hole, you see his brain protruding and pulsating. Gee, tat's scary!!

And I hate to take care of Ace alone when he is feverish man!

He will start to cry and wail and keep wanting me to carry him. Sometimes he is not satisfied if i carry him, he will cry until I start walking around while carrying him.

He refuses to fall asleep on his own and is only willing to do so if I rock him a little, walk around and then give him milk so that he can suckle on my breasts.

I guess his gums must be feeling sore because he keeps wanting to be fed. It is almost as if he is a never ending whole that refuses to be full. He keeps wanting more milk.. or rather more suckle.. even when he is so full that he is vomitting milk.

I feed and feed and feed and feed until I was so tired but he just wouldnt let me off.. even in the middle of the night, he will wake and keep wanting to be fed.. again and again and again.. if I don't feed him, he cries so loudly that I fear he will wake the whole block up. My nipples felt like they don't belong to me antmore after a few hours and he still wouldn't stop!

Even the teething toy fails to amuse him for long. He quietens for a while to chew it and after a while starts to cry again.

Poor mummy tries to amuse herself by staring at the teething toy because it enlarges the view of his gum and you can see Ace's single little tooth trying to protrude out from the gums.

My only solace is in the fact that this is just a phase and it is not the first time I am going through this. But it is a trying phase. There are times I wonder if my son will stay like this and drive me insane.

Daddy isnt spared either.

There were two occasion during this period where Ace was teething that Daddy had to take care of him alone and when I came home, Daddy complained to me, "Ace bully me!"

"Your son cry like he got no father like that.." he complained..

When I told my mum, she said, "No lah.. he got no mother and looking for mother... he just wants to suckle and be comforted..."

Well, as I write this, I getting ready to bring him for his 5th mth jab.. I pray he wun get achy and feverish a again.. there are just so many bad ace days I can tahan in one month man!

Ace has taken to sleeping on his sides with a bolster... while he sleeps, he will turn to his side.. turn back on his back again and turn to is side again.. I guess it signifies that he can flip to and fro at will...

And since he has been able to do this, he has been practising alot during meal times...

Whenever he is hungry.. if he happens to be lying down for some reason, he will turn to the side and make noise to indicate that he wants his milk. I guess this is cause I always b/feed him in the sleeping position with the both of us turning to our sides facing each other... It's a lazy person's invention.. hahaha.. a routine i invented when he still wanted night feeding...

Imagine at night or in the morning.. when you are sleeping... when he cries for milk... all you need to do is put him next to you, turn over, unbutton the necessary and wah lah, he can do the rest...

Anywayz, whenever he has no milk, he still start turning to the sides.... because he has been crying for milk so much (partly he is growing, partly cos he is teething and likes something in his mouth), he has practiced the sideway turn so often he will now do the following:

- Turn to the side and make noise that he wants to be fed...

- If no milk fed, he turns back on his back and cries louder..

- If still no milk, he turns to the side and flips himself right over and then pushes himself up using his arms...

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Alas, Ace doesnt seem to know how to swallow very well... yet he is one HUNGRY HIPPO! ;)

Whenever you feed him the food.. he will lean forward to the spoon once he sees it.. and in the end, he is leaning forward in his high chair and can barely swallow his food.. so I have to carry him when I feed him so that I can keep him away from the spoon and bring the spoon to him instead...

And as he can swallow verywell yet... he will always end up having rice gruel all over his face after his meal...

And the moment i take the spoon away from him, I cannot afford to wait one second before i scoop up the second spoon becuase he will keep making noises to indicate that he wants his FOOD!

Sigh...

Well, at least he doesnt have a food problem...

I still remember that when I was little, my sister had a HUGE problem with food... she would refuse to eat and would take like 3 hours to take one meal.. can you imagine one meal has to be reheated 3 times while my mum tries to amuse her with candle wax, flour dough and many other toys just so that she will open her mouth, chew, and swallow??:P

Me? I love food! I eat anything that is given to me...

I guess that is why my sis and me were very different in size when we grew up.. hehehe...

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

What happened was that over the weekend, mummy went to attend some training. As a result, Daddy was 'Home Alone' with Ace.

Saturday, Daddy was clever and he just PARKED Ace at wai po's house for the whole day. (See pic, daddy and Ace sleeping blissfully when i left the house...)

Sunday, Daddy was also lucky cos it was Nai Nai's off day and she volunteered to take care of Ace for the day. However, Nai Nai had to go and perm her hair and so Daddy had no choice but to take care of Ace for the early half of the day.

Early morning, Daddy and Ace sent mummy to suntec where she was supposed to attend her training. Then Daddy brought Ace home. Ace started to cry and daddy tried to feed him the breastmilk that mummy stored in the fridge.

But Ace wouldn't drink the milk!

Daddy knew that he missed mummy's comforting breast but there was nothing in replacement he could give him except the expressed milk.

Ace refused to take any form of replacement and started to cry and cry and cry and cry........

He wouldnt stop when daddy played music.He wouldnt stop when daddy played with him and kissed him.He wouldnt stop when daddy carried him.He wouldnt stop when daddy tried to feed him milk.

He wouldnt stop no matter what daddy did!

And cry he did!

His cries were loud and piercing and there were tears running out of his eyes.... Daddy was in panic.. he didn't know what to do..

Daddy called Yeye and asked him if Nainai is back but apparently no..

"Buay sai liao.. buay sai liao.. (I can't take it anymore...)" he told Yeye.. and so yeye ask him to just bring Ace over. Two heads is better than one..

"Wah lau, I really did not know what else I can do short of offering him my breasts. I was so upset. I nearly wanted to kill him ah.." said Daddy when he recounted the events to me at night.

Hahaha... now Daddy knows how I feel when I am home alone with a grumpy Ace sometimes ;)

But I was kind of shocked by it too. When I told Daddy that i felt like those post natal blues mum after a bout of screaming or cryng from Ace, he said I shouldn't scare him... and that Ace is a good boy so I shouldn't be upset at him.

Well, I have one more training coming up over this weekend... Daddy, JIA YOU orh! Unnal mudiyam!! (You can do it!)

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Whenever I eat my lunch, he will stare at me and look as if he wants it too.

I havent gotten around to buying the gruels and cereals for him yet. But meanwhile, whenever i drink soup, i will give him a little sip.

yesterday was hilarious!

I was drinking soup and because it was peanut soup, it was rather sweet and nice. I gave Ace one sip and I think he liked it.

After that, I conducted an experiment. (click to enlarge and view experiment)

I took my orange spoon and filled it with another sip of soup. I walked towards Ace and no matter where I put the spoon, his eyes would follow it. When the spoon was sufficiently close to him, he would get excited and start to wave his arms and legs.

And then he will take the whole sip and not even spill one drop!

Usually, when i feed him water.. the water will overflow all over his face... but strangely, when he had soup to drink, he never wasted a single drop!

I told Daddy about this and he said that Ace is greedy for food.. just like ME! Hahahaha...

Friday, November 18, 2005

Recently, I have been in charge of giving talks on how to make friends and also the art of “Tee- UP” (Tee Up means saying good things about someone such that other people are impressed with him and are willing to listen to him).

Both topics bring me to this very important point: PRAISE. And more importantly, praising other people.

Do you like it when people say good things about you? I do. I had a fren, Gwen, who always tells me that I am very clever and that I am very good. Little wonder that I like to be with her right?

So you like being praised by other people despite the fact that you will blush and flush whenever people praised you. But how often have you praised other people??

We, as Asians, tend to feel shy about praising other people. Sometimes it is a case of 爱你在心口难开 (love you I the heard but it is tough to say it out). I mean, have you ever told your father or mother, “YOU ARE THE BEST FATHER/MOTHER IN THE WORLD?” Hiaks, I have.. at least in writing ;)

Sometimes, it is the old Asian ego at fault. I mean.. most people feel that if we talk good about other people, it means that we are bad in comparison.

But have you ever thought of it this way? If your friends around you are all wonderful people, they are upright, friendly, positive, clever.. etc.. what will take make you? Someone similar right? If your friends around you are all skunks, thiefs and robbers, gangsters.. how would other people see you? Probably they will see you as in the same league as these ‘friends’.

So.. I guess most Asians are STINGY with praise. But praise is such a good way of making someone’s day! It is easy, and it is free!

The other day, I was talking to Melvin about another wedding that I have attended. Despite it being fun, I told him that his wedding was still the best tat I ever attended cos it make me feel like holding another wedding with Max. He told me it made his day… hiaks…

Even Ace reacts very positively to praise. As you know, Ace is in the midst of learning how to crawl. Pushing himself up is very hard work for his tiny arms. After a while, he gets tired.

The other day, he flipped himself over and as he was about to cry (because it was hard work and he was tired I think..), I praised him, “Wah! What a clever baby! That’s great Ace! You are so clever. Wah.. you are so strong ah! Wah.. you are such a clever baby!”

Immediately, he pushed his chest forward, pushed his head up high and SMILED!

And then I told him that he looked so good I have to take a picture.

By the time I found the camera and went back into the room, he was already tired again and resting.

“Hey, clever boy, come, pose for a photo!” Praise has but immense power okay! He went back into position, smiled and posed for a nice photo. See, you can even see traces of his tears in the pic!

And did I forget to mention that Ace always smiles whenever people tell him that he is:- the best- the greatest- the cutest- the healthiest- the most handsome- the most intelligent

ALWAYS okie!

So people, please dun be stingy with your praise lah.

Just the other day, I was talking to Jez Mama on the phone. She was sending Tashi, her daughter, to school. When Tashi alighted from the car, I heard her in the background saying, “Mummy, bye bye…”So Jez Mama said, “Bye bye, 加油orh!”And Tashi replied, “Bye Bye, Mummy, 你也要加油orh!”

Wah.. if I am Jez Mama.. I think that day no matter how tired or no matter wat challenges I have, all not important.. am sure I will overcome them all! Any sane, normal person will feel the same way, wouldn’t you?

And that brings me to another point. Don’t be stingy with encouragement lah. People always think of encouraging our peers and below. Eh, your parents, your bosses, your mentors.. all need your encouragement also leh.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Hands and Feet GameOther than playing with Mummy’s hands, Ace has started palying with mummy’s feet as well. He loves to kick mummy’s feet and laugh.

Just the other day, we had a great time playing ‘you kick me and I kick you..” He loves it most when I kick the bouncer so that it rolls away from me and back again…

Grab my TOESHis other favourite game is to use his hands to grab his own toes. Since he likes to do that, I have requested that he help me during diaper changing. I only requested him to do it once and then after that, whenever he changed diapers, he would hold his toes and raise his buttocks himself. Isn’t he a clever boy?

In time to come, i suspect he will graduate to EATING his toes.. hiaks...

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Just the other day, I left Ace at my mum’s place and went for a special session with one of my mentors, Veron.

During the session, Veron shared with us something that she says she has learnt after she spent lots and lots of money, time and effort. And it is something very simple one lor. So simple that when I heard it, I was like, “Ya hor, how come I never thought of this before?”

She told us that too many people in this world do not get what they want in life because they keep focusing on what they do not want.

Eg, a person is preparing a report for her boss. It is important that she does a good job and that she will get good appraisal from her boss because of this because if she does, she will get the raise she always wanted. Instead of focusing on doing a good job, most people will worry about all the “wat if I didn’t do this? What if it is not good enough for my boss? What if my boss dun like it?” etc.. you get the idea lah..

So in the end, she will be so stressed she will not perform up to standard. And because she did not perform up to standard, she will not get the raise tat she wanted.

See, focus on what you dun want and you will get it because FOCUS EQUALS REALITY!

I mean, you will be surprised that even BABY ACE knows, understands and USES this concept okie!

My son is 4 mths old and he knows that if he focuses on what he wants, that is what he will get.

You see. The other day, I brought him to take his 4th month jab.

Afternoon is where Ace takes his naps. Afternoon time = Nap Time. By the time we were inside the room, Ace was already half asleep.

We then had to weight him.. the nurse had to go and prepare the needle, prepare this and write that. By the time she was ready, Ace was already soundly asleep.

Ace’s goal was to have his nap. So no matter how I shook him, he just did not bother to wake.

Finally, when the needle went in, he woke, cried for 3 seconds and went back to sleep.

Eh harlow.. the same injection, when it went into another 4 mth old, he was still howling away by the time the mother is seating outside and waiting for like 5 min lor…

Was it that painful?

Well, focus on the pain and yes, it is very painful lor.

Ace focus on what he wanted: his afternoon nap. And that was wat he got. He was still very peacefully asleep when I walked to the library, signed up his library membership, chose books for him, chit chatted with the librarian and walked home. Hiaks.

FOCUS EQUALS REALITY.

So the next time you catch yourself focusing on what you don’t want, remember how Ace baby got wat he wanted. If he can do it, so can you!

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Mummy had a day off that day. Courtesy of Daddy. (Daddy posing with Jez Ah Ma's two bao bei... I think he trying to simulate his dream come true of having 3 kids...)

It was a wkend and daddy volunteered to take care of Ace for a number of hours so that mummy could go for a girl’s expedition aka SHOPPING with her Jez Mama.

Well, actually Daddy volunteered because Ah Ma volunteered to take care of Ace cos it was her off day. He said he would bring Ace over to his place and he can chill out while Ah Ma and Ah Gong go gaga over Ace :)

It was the first time Mummy got to go out without Ace and for leisure. The first time in a long long long long while…

Mummy wanted to feel different. She decided then that she should dress up for this special day. After wearing frumpy looking t-shirt and jeans or just any top that she can fit in for the past 4 months, she has decided to wear something sexy.

Mummy then chose a red tube top with her black pants and wore her black heels.

While making up, Mummy felt really strange. I mean, it has been a long long while since she made up because she was going out. Usually she was just visiting someone, having tea with someone or going to office.

Today, is different! She gets to go out and enjoy!

After being Mummy first, and if got time, wife for so long.. mummy felt as if it is the first time in a long long while that she gets to be herself.

It was strange to be out on the streets without Ace or hubby actually. But after a while, one gets into the mood of things.

The initial plan was to go and use her Mothercare 15% discount voucher before it expired. However, upon reaching there, mummy realized that Mothercare is having a sale. Everything is buy 3 get 1 free.. some even 50% off lor..

So there goes the vouchers lor.

In the end, me and Jez Mama went around suntec shopping and gossiping.. and when we finally went back to mothercare, she decided to buy clothes for her daughter and her sister.. buy 3 get 1 free… in the end, she couldn’t decided what was the one free thing she wanted and she asked me to pick out an outfit for Ace!

Wah.. eternally grateful to her because honestly, the clothes at mothercare are so expensive I really cannot bear to buy because I know how fast he will outgrow them :S

We picked out a pack of 3 sleepsuits for him (office very cold sometimes so good for going to office) and we picked the set where there is an orange suit because that is daddy’s favourite colour. FYI, Ace has already outgrown the 3-6 mth ones.. so I decided to help him wear them for a longer period. I chose the 9-12 mths one. I pray hard that he can wear the orange one during Chinese new year then I dun have to buy clothes for him for new year. Hee hee

I dunno if it is cos I got to have time to be with myself and I got to be me again. When I went back home, I felt like a different person. I felt fresh and alive again. Papa seemed to have missed me a lot and kissed me a lot. I felt like I can look at Ace from a different angle and appreciate him all over again.

I always wondered why people go so gaga over Ace. When I bring him to office, he gets passed around and gets hugged and kissed by like umpteen people okay. One even told me that she misses Ace if she doesn’t see him for a few days!

But now that I got a chance to be away and come back again.. I start to realize all over again why Ace is such a cute and lovable baby. He really is very cute. Like a doll and he is such a happy baby. Even if I am not his mummy, I think I will like this baby a lot too ;)

Well, I think from now on, I shall periodically ask for time out with frens without Ace because it really feels therepeautic for the soul.

So new mummies, try it! Your son will be ok and yes, he will survive without you and happily too for a few hours.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Maybe he is practising. Maybe he is reminding me and Daddy how clever he is. Maybe he is seeking attention and applause.. i dunno ;)

When he woke up, he kept tugging at my shirt. I guessed that he wanted milk, so i fed him. And then after a long while, i wondered why he wasnt done and pulled away to sleep somemore.

STUNT 1: MONKEY FACESHe then turned himself to the side facing me and started making monkey faces at me. I just cannot help but to laugh myself awake. He looked so adorable. His recent most favourite monkey face expression is the pouty look.

Then I decided to wake up and bath him.

As the water heater was not heated, i switched it on and waited for the water to heat up. I then put Ace at his mattress where I usually change his diapers.

STUNT 2: SWIVELLING ON TUMMYI walked in the check and heater and when I walked back to the mattress to check on him , he had already swivelled himself 70 degrees to the right.

STUNT 3: FLIPPING OVERI thought it was still quite safe and so I walked back to the kitchen to check the water and to drink some water. Suddenly, i heard some noises and when i came back, Ace had already flipped on his tummy.

Not only did he flip on his tummy, he had shifted himself halfway out of the mattress. His legs were on the floor and his torso was still on the mattress. It was as if it was his life mission to get out of the mattress.

STUNT 4: WATER FOUNTAINWhen the water was ready, I brought him to the bathtub and started to bath him. As per normal, I started off with sponging his face, head and neck and brushing his teeth.

After which I put him into the water.

Less than 3 seconds into the water, he spouted his PEE FOUNTAIN and he gave stared at it, gave me a smile tat seemed to say, "Wat a beautiful fountain!" and continued to pee another 3 times.. making 3 fountains...

Before I could chide him, his face changed again...

STUNT 5: SHITTING IN THE WATERHe then started to have the 'kek sai' look and then I realized there were yellowish stuff coming out of his buttocks!

He gave another 'kek sai' look and more of them came out! Eeeeeeeek... he was shitting in water!!!

At last resort, mummy had to pull him out, stand him on his feet (He is very good at doing that now. He can do that for like 10 seconds at one time), shower him, clean his sai.. and then quickly bring him out to dress him.

Monday, November 07, 2005

Just the other day, I was talking to hubby about how I always knew that my baby would look quite good becuase me and max quite good looking and how I never expected that he would look THIS CUTE and become so POPULAR...

I mean, sometimes I even think it is insane and really very kua zhang.

I have friends downloading his pics as wallpaper and even their colleagues are very excited to see Ace's new pics.

I also have friends telling me that they miss Ace when they dun see him just for a few days.

I have friends who see me and the first thing they ask EVERYTIME without fail is, "Ace leh?" and then quickly proceed to carry and play with him.

Even little kids like Tashi also come and ask me "Didi leh?" and keep kissing him, playing with him and wanting to carry him everytime she sees me.

And whenever I bring him out to gatherings, he inevitably becomes centre of attraction. Eg, Kar Peng's Hen Night, Melvin and Germaine's Wedding, Mum's Party at Home..

Yeye's passenger (he is a taxi driver) even said before she alighted his taxi, "Uncle, can you show me again the pic of your grandson in your handphone! My god! I have never seen such a cute baby!"

It got to the point where people's exclamation over his cuteness and people crowding around him, showering him with love and kisses all the time is a natural thing to me. I would get very surprised if people looked at him and show no signs of being swept off their feet by him.

And that brings me to the next point. How to measure up when I have the next child?

What if Ace got used to all this star treatment and then when the next one comes along and looks better than he does? Will he resent it or be jealous? Will he not be on good terms with his siblings becuase of this?

Or...

What if my next kid looks like his face just kanna rammed by a car? Isn't that even worse? How will he/she ever measure up to the da ge of theirs?

I asked my mum about this and she says that all children are cute. My friends are mostly childless or their children have mostly grown up, that is why they are happy to see, carry and play with Ace.

"Popo always go and care for and love other children. (She is childcare teacher mah) That is why other people will naturally shower love and care for my grandson.." she says.

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Despite the fact that I married and a MOTHER OF ONE, I was asked to be a JIE MEI at my friend, Germaine's wedding.

It was rather fun and it has been a long while since I had to wake up this early. Hiaks... (so tired that i just slept and slept today.. hahhaha.. really lao liao manz:P)

Anywayz, it was an absolutely beautiful and stunning wedding. Hai.. I always so moved when I attend weddings and especially when they are very beautiful and wonderful.. reminds me of my own wedding leh.. feel like going through the whole ceremony with max again man ;)

Their photo album is so mei mei! I also feel like taking my wedding photos again.. and this time with Ace.. hiaks.. now I understand why Jez Ah Ma says she never take wedding pics becuase she will forever be looking out for better pics after tat ;)

So touched also when I saw me and max's photo with bride and groom in their special Video ;)

When night time came, I strangely found my son to be the Star Attraction at the wedding!

I had not wanted to bring Ace along but the bride kept saying that she wanted to take a picture with Ace that day and so I brought him along with me.

Me and hubby reached there early cos he was the 'brothers' at the wedding and since I was a 'sister', I had to help out with the reception.

Since it was early and not many people around, the photog kept taking pictures of Ace.

And then when our friends started arriving, Ace started to go around. They carried him around and after about 30 min or so, even I lost track of where my son was! His pram became a trolley for his bag and barang since he had no time to even sit in it.

When the dinner started, my son did a tour around the tables... going from hand to hand and table to table.

It started with people clamouring to carry my son... then they wanted to play with him.. after that, they even wanted to take picture with him.

Let's see... Sebest, Joo Ing, Grace, Emmerline, Tashi, Evon, Jez, Richie, Sharon, Rebecca, Zhenyuan, Passion, Elida... There were at least 10 uncles and aunties (friends of me and max) who clamoured to take photo with him or carry okie!!!

I tot that would be the end of it.

Little did we know that the photog actually decided to put the pictures he took earlier up for viewing. Even I must say my son really look very cute. I told lam (the photog) that if he ever needs baby model, come to me.. cheap cheap friendship price.. hahaha ;) I hope he gives the photos to melvin and germaine without extra charges... then i can show you all..

Lam, I promise to put your contact in my blog and let everyone see if you give me my son's photos.. hahahaha ;)

Anyway, after viewing the photos, the bride's uncle came to my hubby and said he wanted to borrow my son. Max asked him to not kidnap our son and he said, "I promise to do that if you can give birth to another one as cute as him and sell to me lah.."

Chey! My son priceless okay... You think want to give birth just give birth like that meh?:) But of cos I know he was only joking lah...

In the end, Ace did a tour around the bride's relatives' tables too! Heng ah! Melvin's (groom) sis just gave birth and they have their own baby to play with.

My godma said to me, "Wah, your son even more popular than Andy Lau ah!"

By the end of the day, Ace was a mix of many different smells of perfume and had glittery powder all over his face and his botak head.

Next week I am going to another wedding. I have decided NOT to bring Ace. I think that "exposure" yesterday was more than enough to last him a long time. I dun want him to get used to this STAR TREATMENT :) If like that, next time when I am alone with him, I die..

Anywayz, I think if this happens again, I am going to start charging so that Ace has a HUGE education fund...- $5 to carry him for 2 min- $15 to carry for 10 min (packaged price)- $20 per picture taken of him- $25 per picture taken WITH him- $35 to bottle feed him

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

I can't decide if Ace looks more like an egghead or a monk... cos daddy just shaved Ace's head TODAY! :)

Well, we had initially wanted to do this when he was one mth old as with the Chinese custom. I mean.. Ace didnt have much hair and we thought shaving will help him to grow thicker hair. But his scalp looked soooooooooo fragile.. so we decided to postpone to the 4th month.

And then when he was 4 months old, we decided that we didnt want to shave his head afterall because it seems dangerous to do that still.

Then for some unknown reason.. Daddy woke up today and decided to do it and WE DID IT!

Daddy very steady lor.. completed it within i think 15 min ;) Hehehehe... I guess his lots of practise with his own head helped.

I would have liked to take pics of the whole process but alas I was needed to hold his head still... so here are some before and after pics for your viewing pleasure... (click to enlarge)

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Today was a good Ace day. Ace took a very very long nap in the afternoon and we went to attend Kar Peng's Hen Night dinner.

As usual, he was the centre of attention. All the AUNTIES (cept Linda who insisted that she is jie jie) carried him around and played with him.

He was in a really good mood and kept smiling at everyone. It made Linda's day cos Ace smiled at her and then having read my blog about Ace smiling at 美女, she asked him, "我是美女对吗？" And he smiled at her in affirmation. She asked him a few times and he kept smiling.

He was in such a good mood he even smiled at GH! Hahahaha... but alas when GH asked the "我是美女对吗？" question, he turned away with a sian face.. hahahahaha...

On the way home, Ace slept somemore in the car. Upon reaching home, he started to be really active again.

Then Max played with him by kissing him on his neck and shoulders.. and he laughed!

I only heard him laugh once in his sleep and I never heard it again for about a month or so liao.

Today, he laughed and he did it again and again and again..

Such a cute giggle!!!

I ran to my PC to blog about this special day... and I proudly boasted to Linda about it over MSN..

Angel says: hm liao? ;)

Linda says: yeah Angel: says: hee.. tell you something.. ace can laugh liao... max was just playing with him and he made giggling sound! ;)

Linda says: just oni? haha,thanks 2 me! i primed him jus now leh...

Angel says:yeah..last time he onli smile.. i onli heard him luff once in his sleep.. and then it never happened again for a long time

Angel says: is it??????????????? :P

Linda says: it is...................................

Angel says: ok lah.. let you win... but he luff really veri cute lor... hiyo i so mesmerized.. think we all no need to sleep tonite.. i could go on listening to him luff forever man...

Linda says: :)

I really could lor... ;) Listening to him, all my troubles and my worries and tiredness all gone.. just like tat!

Dun talk to you all liao..i go back and listen to my kia laugh :) hee hee...

Alas, I would say it was much better than the third month.. ;) And that is because mummy is better prepared this time. This time, one week before the jab, I fed Ace with more VP than usual and made him drink more water. After injection, I fed him with EVEN MORE VP to ensure that he quickly detox all the rubbish and dun get feverish or achy for too long.

When we reached the Polyclinic, we had to queue up for quite a while. By the time it was our turn, Ace was already half asleep.

While lying on the weighing scale (Ace grew from 6.8 to 8.15kg within one month leh!), Ace fell asleep. The nurse asked me to wake him up so I shook him a little. He woke up but the nurse took so long to prepare the needle that by the time she was ready, he was asleep again.

My son dam kiang lor. Once the needle went in, he woke up, cried for 3 seconds and went back to sleeping!

Then while I was seated outside and waiting for him to settle down before we left the clinic, he just slept and slept.

After about 15 minutes, he woke up and smiled at me. That’s a good sign. The last time, he started to have that M shaped mouth right after the injection.

Then I brought him to the library to borrow books, to econ minimart to buy some things and then on the way home, he smiled at me again.. GOOD!

Then I reached home and by then he was starting to feel a little warm so I sponged him. He was ok after a while and so we brought him to wai po’s house because me and hubby had something on that night.

He was very sleepy and slept through the night… only waking at 6am in the morning for milk and because he shit. I sponged him again during the night to ensure that he will not be too warm.

In the morning when he woke, he was 38.5 degrees. after a few rounds of sponging, he dropped to 37 degrees. He was still smiling and that was a good sign.

Then mummy itchy hand. Nurse said his leg will ache where the injection was administered my itchy hand go and touch and ask him pain or not.. HE SCREAMED and then Daddy scolded me for my itchy hands.

Then whole morning I had to saying him and carry him while daddy did housework. Superdaddy washed clothes, fold clothes, pack stuff, ironed clothes all while I was taking care of Ace.

Anyway, after that, he was ok liao so me and hubby brought him to office.

As office had air con, he cooled down very shortly and was free from fever from afternoon onwards.

Yet, even though he did not have fever, he was more grumpy than when he was feeling warm.

He keep wanting daddy or me to carry him. He refused to sleep and refused to drink his milk if it is not warm enough. He kept shitting (good sign of detox.. mummy is happy to see tat.. for some unkown reason, he always shits black stuff when he has injection.. imagine how poisonous these injections are..), he cries when we touch his supposedly painful thigh and puking milk cos he kept wanting to drink non stop. Ou Ni still want to drink lor!

Hahaha.. finally daddy gets a taste of wat it is like to take care of Ace after he had his injection.

“Hiya, why last time you din tell me the paying injection wun have fever? If I had known, I would have rather paid man!” Daddy said.

But I did tell him lor.. and we agreed that letting Ace have fever and detox it out was better because there was less chemicals in his body. He clean forgot about it!

But just as well, good to let daddy know how I feel when I take care of Ace at home ;)

Anyway, I will be even better prepared this time for his 5th month injection. Last one.. woo hoo!